School Leadership Toolkit

The purpose of the EPNoSL toolkit is to guide reflections on the requirements
for school leadership policy action planning across EU countries and regions.
The EPNoSL toolkit seeks to ensure that the issues of equity and learning achievement underlie reflections on school leadership policy planning
and encourages all school leadership stakeholders, including policy makers, school heads, teachers, administrators, parents and pupils
to engage in a constructive dialogue.

Join one of the School Leadership Policy Activities that suits your needs

The School Leadership Policy Activities are organised by our partners all over Europe.
In these activities the School Leadership Policy Reflection Toolkit is used to advance and deepen understanding between stakeholders
and promote the development, planning and implementation of effective school leadership policies.

The European Policy Network on School Leadership

The School Leadership Toolkit has been developed by the European Policy Network on School Leadership (EPNoSL).
EPNoSL aims at improving school leadership in Europe through
a collaborative network in which members co-construct, manage and share knowledge intended to inform policy in the area of school leadership.
EPNoSL is a partner-run consortium created in 2011 in response to an increasing focus on school leaders' professional development, including the training/preparation and selection of school leaders across Europe.

The School Leadership Toolkit is designed to provide policy makers, school authorities, schools, researchers and teacher training institutes with the tools to reflect upon, identify challenges and prioritize areas for policy action
to support and enhance school leadership for equity and learning. Furthermore, the School Leadership Toolkit is designed to support analyses of the ways different school leadership policies
and programs interplay and influence the overall capacity of school leaders and their schools to effectively and persistently
address equity and learning challenges in their schools.

Briefing NotesSchool Leadership Policy Development

Interview with Helmuth Aigner on School Leadership, head master of Akademisches Gymnasium Innsbruck, Austria (Interviewed by Silvia Krenn).

Educational leadership calls for a range of highly developed competences underpinned by core values. It requires professional commitment, an ability to motivate and inspire,
and sound managerial, pedagogical and communication skills.
Good educational leaders develop a strategic vision for their institutions, act as role models for both learners and teachers and are key to
creating an effective and attractive environment which is conducive to learning.
They are also major players in forging effective links between different levels of education and training, families, the world of work and the local community,
with a common aim of raising learner attainment.
Council conclusions on effective leadership in education, Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council meeting, Brussels, 25-26 Nov. 2013.

Introduction to the Toolkit

The design of the School Leadership Toolkit is based on the assumption that there is no unique road to policy development on school leadership for equity and learning.
There are different ways for EU Member States to achieve an advanced level of school leadership policy development for equity and learning.

Educating School Leaders Toolset

The Educating School Leaders Toolset is intended to help policy makers and school leaders
reflect upon different types and approaches to school leadership professional development as well as initial preparation of school leaders.

Teacher Leadership Toolset

The Teacher Leadership Toolset has been designed to support the development of teacher leadership in school cultures with a flat hierarchy which are undergoing
transformation, oriented to equity and learning as the theory of action driving their work with all students.

Distributed Leadership for Equity & Learning Toolset

The Distributed Leadership Toolset is intended to help policy makers and school leaders
reflect upon different forms of distributed leadership and their implications for policy formation, focusing on equity and learning.

School Autonomy Toolset

The School Autonomy Toolset is intended to help policy makers and school leaders reflect upon
diverse aspects of autonomy in education. What kind of autonomy of leadership is present in a school system and
what opportunities for equity and learning should be supported through policy planning?

Promoting Collaboration Toolset

The Promoting Collaboration Toolset is intended to help policy makers and school leaders
reflect upon what kind of information on the education delivery processes do the different stakeholders need,
so that they can be well informed and empowered to participate in decision making regarding schooling issues,
such as the internal organization, staffing and resourcing, curriculum management, etc.

Policy Response Toolset

The Policy Response Toolset is intended to help policy makers and school leaders
develop solutions to problems around policy implementation. This toolset is informed by the principles of
creative interpretation and the translation of abstract ideas into practice, and views policy as a process of creative social action.

School Leadership Policy Action Planning Toolset

Among the goals of the EPNoSL School Leadership Toolkit is to help policy makers in school education engage in action planning of reforms, strategies, programmes, projects or other initiatives
aimed to enhance the capacity of school leaders to effectively address challenges of equity and learning in their schools.